Endocrine Abstracts

A 28-year-old lady who was born with ambiguous genitalia. A decision was made to rear the patient as male, and was subsequently registered as a boy. Investigations demonstrated a chromosomal mosaic pattern 45XO/46XY fitting the category of mixed gonadal dysgenesis. Internal organs were more suggestive of a female type: uterus, vagina, and fallopian tubes, gonads were variable but typically an ovary on one side and a testis on the other. HCG test showed a brisk rise in serum te...

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB), including obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), is associated with excessive daytime somnolence, and impacts significantly on quality of life in affected individuals. It also predisposes to premature cardiovascular (hypertension, congestive cardiac failure, myocardial infarction, sudden death, and stroke) and metabolic (diabetes mellitus and dyslipidaemia) dysfunction.SDB is a well-recognised complication of acromegaly. In mos...

Respiratory disorders are a major cause of illness and impaired physical function in patients with acromegaly, contributing to 25% of all recorded deaths, with respiratory mortality 3-fold higher than in normal subjects. Sleep apnoea (SA), the phenomenon of recurrent cessation or decrease of airflow to the lungs during sleep, is the commonest reported respiratory complication. Both obstructive (OSA) and central (CSA) sleep apnoeas are known to occur, although the overall preva...